caution is advised as to its very widespread application, although Herr Schroter has taken a gramme with only some apparent increase of peristalsis and appetite.--_Lancet_. * * * * * AUTOPSY TABLE. The illustration represents an autopsy table placed in the Coroner's Department of the New York Hospital, designed by George B. Post and Frederick C. Merry. An amphitheater, fitted up for the convenience of the jury and those interested when inquests are held, surrounds the table, which is placed in the center of the floor, thus enabling the subject to be viewed by the coroner's jury and other officials who may be present. The mechanical construction of this table will be readily understood by the following explanation: The top, indicated by letter, A, is made of thick, heavy, cast glass, concaved in the direction of the strainer, as shown. It is about eight feet long and two feet and six inches wide, in one piece, an opening being left in the center to receive the strainer, so as to allow the fluid matter of the body, as well as the water with which it is washed, to find its way to the waste pipe below the table, and thus avoid soiling or staining the floor, The strainer is quite large, with a downward draught which passes through a large flue, as shown by letter, F, connected above the water seal of the waste trap and trunk of the table to the chimney of the boiler house, as indicated by the arrows, carrying down all offensive odors from the body, thereby preventing the permeating of the air in the room. [Illustration: IMPROVED AUTOPSY TABLE.] The base of the table, indicated by letter, B, represents a ground swinging attachment, which enables the turning of the table in any direction. D represents the cold water supply cock and handle, intersecting with letter, E, which is the hot water cock, below the base, as shown, and then upward to a swing or ball joint, C, then crossing under the plate glass top to the right with a hose attachment for the use of the operator. Here a small hose pipe is secured, for use as may be required in washing off all matter, to insure the clean exposure of the parts to be dissected. The ball swing, C, enables the turning of the table in any direction without disturbing the water connections. This apparatus has been in operation since the building of the hospital in 1876, and has met all the requirements in connection with its uses.--_Hydraulic Plumber_. * * * * * THE EXCITING PROPERTIES OF OATS.